The World of Rusty Taylor, a hemp-inspired quadriplegic jester disguised as a jazz-singing poet and writer

Biography

Condensed Version

Greetings fellow Jazzonians,

Peace. My name is Rusty Taylor; I'm a hemp-inspired quadriplegic poet and jazz vocalist currently fronting the band Southern Standard Time with a group of my friends who are wonderful jazz musicians. On April 18, 1986, I broke my neck in a single-car accident that left me a quadriplegic, unable to perform even the most rudimentary acts of daily living. I've since graduated from Mercer University with a BA in English and a minor in Computer Science, and then, for sixteen years, I worked for a global corporation as a computer programmer. Although I experienced many good times and met some really wonderful people, I felt my life insidiously draining in a vortex of corporate indifference. Fortunately, a very shallow dude worked in the Human Resources Department; he, with unjustified arrogance, a soi disant sense of egoistic infallibility, the puerile misuse of the power of his position, and the mental acuity of a dried out sponge, made it very easy for me to break free from the shackles of corporate cupidity to pursue my dream of singing jazz. The group Rusty Taylor and Friends (now called Southern Standard Time featuring Rusty Taylor) recorded a CD of jazz vocals, which turned out much better than any of us had dared to dream, receiving playing time in The Netherlands, Galveston and Waco Texas, and on Masani's jazz program The Jazz Spot, which airs every Friday evening on Georgia Public Radio. Welcome to my web page, my personal adventure in virtual reality. Read my blog; it's a chronicle of my journey into the realm of jazz as a quadriplegic. Join my mailing list. Sign my guest book. Listen to my music. Read my poetry, my lyrics, essays, short stories, my autobiographical manuscript, and a novel entitled Wild Earth Zone that I've categorized a futuristic satire. Check out my facebook page as well as my profile page on ReverbNation. Read my gig schedule so you can check out our live shows, and come back often; there's no telling what may be highlighted in the future.